The Planning Board last week got its first look at a site plan for a new Dunkin' Donuts on Pond Street, which includes a drive-thru window the Zoning Board of Appeals would approve.

SF Management, which owns a number of Dunkin' Donuts franchises in the area, is asking to build another one at an empty lot at 190 Pond St., near the Hess gas station.

Planning Board Chairman David Foster said a public hearing Thursday night was to see the plan and give the management group some comments from the board and an inspector who examined the property.

"They listened to the first round of comments," Foster said.

Michael Healy, SF Management's attorney, said the drive-thru window would account for about 75 percent of the business. A number of residents from condominiums on Algonquin Trail, which intersects Rte. 126 near the lot, said they're concerned about increased traffic the doughnut shop would generate.

"I understand their frustration," Healy said. "They have their concerns. And they are going to be our neighbors and we are going to listen to them."

Installing a traffic light at the intersection to alleviate any traffic problems would not be easy because Rte. 126 is a state road, Foster and Town Planner Nathaniel Strosberg said. The town planner said Ashland would need to show the state certain criteria is met in order to get a traffic light installed.

"It is a complex process," he said.

Healy said traffic lights nearby help create gaps in the traffic that will allow motorists to turn off Algonquin Trail onto Rte. 126.

While the Planning Board has the final say on the building, the Zoning Board of Appeals is the ruling group on the drive-thru window. Strosberg said the management group needs a special permit because drive-thru windows are not ordinarily allowed in that area of town.

The public hearing was continued to Thursday, June 13, at 7:15 p.m. at Town Hall, 101 Main St.

Joe O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-3957 or joconnell@wickedlocal.com.